Making a Gumpaste Bow - By Francesca McGregor

	Here are the tools I like to have on hand
	Use a ball of modelling paste about the size of a large marble
	Roll it into a long sausage
	Roll it as thinly as you like. I like mine to be a thin as possible to make them look as much like fabric as I can. I roll mine about the thickness I would roll paste to make a rose leaf
	Cut two lengths the same, these will form the loops, the length of them depends on the size of your bow, but if you want to make a 10 cm bow then each loop will end up about 4 cms when made, so the length of the flat paste should be double that plus a bit so about 10cms. It’s a bit of trial and error.
	I like to use a stitching wheel and mark the edges to give them a fabric effect, I always use a ruler to do this, and it makes the edge very straight and looks great.
	Dust the pieces with luster dust at this stage.
	Turn the piece over and pinch the end, then fold over the other edge and pinch that in the same manner and pinch the two ends together. You may need to make the loops a little shorter at this stage if they appear a little long and droopy.
	Repeat the process with the other “loop” piece and put them aside with a little crumpled up plastic wrap inside to plump them up whilst they dry.
	Roll out the tails the same way as you would the bows, but cut the pieces with a 45 degree angle at one end and mark the edges with the stitching wheel, luster dust them and pinch the straight edges. Put aside.
	Make the centre from another piece rolled out the same manner but the centre knot only needs to be about half the length of the tails, edge it, luster dust it and then pinch both ends to make it look creased.
	Put the bow together in this order, a tail, a loop the other loop, the other tail and then the centre knot.
	You may need to make a few adjustments to the pool lengths the way the tails sit and the folds. You should be able to do this for a while, before the paste gets too hard. Then I suggest you leave it to dry once you have it just right.
	I find it best to put the bow together on the cake and then leave it to dry in place. That how I’ve done all my bows in the past.